Coyote On A Snowy Morning
The weather forecast for yesterday was "mostly sunny" and once again the weather forecasters were wrong, at least for the period of time I was out photographing on Antelope Island State Park.
The weather forecast for yesterday was "mostly sunny" and once again the weather forecasters were wrong, at least for the period of time I was out photographing on Antelope Island State Park.
I wanted to share a few images taken two days ago when Antelope Island was covered with a fresh snow fall. The entire island looked glorious and the sunlight caused the snow to sparkle much to my delight.
Yesterday I took a stroll down memory lane, actually I looked for images I have taken either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day in my files but in a way that is taking a stroll down memory lane.
I recall that when I first started photographing the juvenile Red-tailed Hawks in this area back in August that they missed their prey more times than they would capture it and now they seem to have gone the other way, they are catching the prey more than they are missing it.
This Wilson's Plover and its mate were being run ragged chasing after the two chicks they had fledged, this adult stopped in front of me where I had laid down in the sugary white sand and rested a few moments in the dried Sea Purslane stalks.
I hope that no one is getting sick of my Coyotes images. I took this Coyote photo two days ago as it walked on a Great Salt Lake beach.
I'm pleased with this bison image because it contains so many icons of the western U.S., the bison grazing on prairie grasses, the Great Salt Lake and a mountain range in the background.
I remember the morning I took this photo well, it was a warm morning in February at Fort De Soto's north beach, the Great Egret was in the tidal lagoon near the Concession Stand and it had been actively hunting when it came up with this Mullet.
While looking for birds to photograph I spotted a pair of Coyotes hunting and roaming through the snow-covered landscape together.
We've gotten a lot of snow in the Salt Lake Valley since Friday, I swept at least a foot of snow off my vehicle yesterday and about 3 to 4 inches on Friday, as I write this the snow is still falling.
Yesterday I had an opportunity to photograph this Bison bull grazing on Antelope Island State Park with the mountains of Promontory Point in the background with just a small bit of the Great Salt Lake showing too.
I've wanted to capture images of a Coyote in blowing snow for a while now and I did get the chance yesterday, I really wish the foreground vegetation hadn't been in the way of a clear view of the Coyote.
I photographed this Bison bull feeding peacefully yesterday out on Antelope Island State Park with the Great Salt Lake in the background.
Just a single image of a Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa) that strolled past me while I sat in the water photographing it. Every time I look at this image I feel a wonderful sense of peace, the same feeling I had when I took this photo.
I'm not exactly sure why this Coyote was wet but it had to have been from the water of the Great Salt Lake because the Coyote was along the causeway to Antelope Island, a couple miles from the park entrance and a couple to the island itself.
Early last week I thought that the Pronghorn bucks on Antelope Island State Park might be in rut, later in the week a buck's behavior confirmed that they are.
Male Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) are flashy birds but I believe the females have a subtle beauty too.
Three days ago things finally fell into place, a bull on a hill top, good light, eye contact and a clouds in the background.
I spot a North American Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) and all I have is low light. So what do I do?
I photographed this American Bison bull a few days ago on Antelope Island State Park as he was drinking from a freshwater puddle formed by rains over the weekend.
In Utah I don't often have the opportunity to see and photograph White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) because they have a very limited range here so I was thrilled to have the chance to photograph this doe close up as she fed between the gravel road and a barley field in Glacier County, Montana.
Some images strike my funny bone, this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk photograph sure has. This is but one of many captions that came to my mind after viewing it.
I look at this image and I see intelligence in the Coyote's eyes. I see a warm blooded creature who is doing what it needs to do to survive. I see a female who is nursing pups. I see beauty.
Every day that I spend in the field is always marvelous but it seems especially wonderful during the change of seasons because I feel a heightened sense of anticipation for the first of the year birds, the first spotting of wildflowers blooming or the seasonal changes that wildlife exhibits in behavior or appearance.
Farmers don't like Richardson's Ground Squirrels much, they dig holes that could break the legs on livestock and eat grains and the shoots of plants, I can understand those concerns. But I have to say... I love them, they are fun to watch and photograph.
It tickles me to be able to photograph wild Bison.
There are times when photographs speak for themselves, they tell a story or show behavior and with my bird and wildlife photography they also show the natural cycle of life. These images may be gruesome for some to view but they show this falcon's natural behavior quite well.
Since moving to Utah in the summer of 2009 I have wanted to get some images of an American Bison standing with the Great Salt Lake in the background.
Burrowing Owls are beautiful birds with lemony yellow eyes, downy soft feathers and subtle coloration. It's hard to believe that they aren't that much different in size from an American Robin.
As 2011 comes to a close and 2012 is just hours away , I wanted to do one more blog post for the year.